Fire Control Battlefield Information System Application(FC BISA) In Service Support Contract

Overview

Description Command and Control, Targeting, Navigation and Communications (C2TNC) lies within the new Sense Decide Communicate (SDC) Operating Centre of Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) which is an arm’s length body of the Ministry of Defence, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Defence (“The Authority”). The Command and Control, Targeting, Navigation and Communications team intends to place a single source contract with CGI IT Ltd estimated at £42.7m for the In-Service Support for the Fire Control Battlefield Information System (FC BISA) and ensure the capability is sustained. This requirement is subject to the Procurement Act 2023. Total Quantity & Scope FC BISA is the Command, Control, Communications, Computation and Information (C4I) application that generates firing data for artillery and mortars. It currently operates on the Bowman ComBAT Infrastructure and Platform (BCIP) system. FC BISA was brought into service with the Royal Artillery in 2008 and was designed to be a fully networked digital fires capability. It has had many iterations since 2008 the most recent in development is FC BISA v4.3.2. FC BISA v4.3 has been developed to achieve an operational and safety-assured capability supporting coalition operations and extending the reach of digital fire missions to the dismounted user. Three releases have been developed 4.0, 4.2 & 4.3 each of which increased capability, in line with the Customer’s priority. FC BISA v4.0 was released on BCIP 5.6 and currently has an Out of Service Date (OSD) of March 2027 in line with the BCIP 5.6 OSD. This procurement is for the In-Service Support contract for FC BISA. This Support contract will be needed to meet the new requirement set down by BCIP 5.7 and future fires Sensor to Shooter doctrine. The contract will provide support to the main software upgrades contract that will require an extensive rebuild of the FC BISA software and increase its capability and interoperability with current high priority capability such as Mobile Fires Platform, SERPENS, 155mm Mortar and many other projects. Direct Award Justification Schedule 5 paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023 (technical reasons) a.) the grounds for direct award; The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: Competition is absent for technical reasons b.) why the direct award is justified; The Sense Decide & Communicate project team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (‘MoD’), intends to award a Contract to CGI IT UK Limited (the ‘Contractor’) estimated at £42.7m to deliver the support contract to the Fire Control Battlefield Information System Application. The Authority considers that an In-service support Contract can placed with CGI via Direct Award pursuant to Schedule 5 paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023 (technical reasons). CGI owns the intellectual property and is the only supplier with the necessary technical understanding, expertise and know-how to provide the support required on the upgrade contract to the necessary standard. In addition, the Authority considers it can also rely on Schedule 5 para. 7 of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023); Additional or repeat goods, services or works. A change in supplier would require the provision of different software which would lead to significant technical difficulties in compatibility, interoperability, operation of the system and maintenance because CGI IT UK Ltd have been the prime contractor for the entirety of the FC BISA programme from its initial deployment in 2008 up to its latest version. Achieving compatibility of fire control software with the BOWMAN BCIP network requires a very deep understanding of integration process needed to obtain the safety and security standards for accreditation on the BCIP network. This process takes anything from 12 to 18 months. This time is achievable only with the experience of CGI IT UK Ltd. To go through this process with a new contractor would giv